LISTENING GUIDE

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Introductory SessionAs we begin a journey that will take us throughout Galilee into Samaria, to Jerusalem, to Ephesus, and to Patmos, let’s consider adopting the same invitations for embarkation that John encountered.

Read John 1:35-51.

1. Let’s sense Christ asking us the same question: “_______________, My child, what do you want?

[Your name]

What are you seeking here and now in this ______________ ______________ of your life?”

2. Let’s be willing to “________________ _______ ___________.”

3. Consider the unfathomable grace of God that we sometimes “find” Christ when we didn’t even know

________________ was the________________ we were ________________ ________________.

4. We will miss untold treasures if we confuse “________________ ____ ________________”

with “________________ _____ ________________.”

5. Let’s begin our journey as a true seeker “in whom there is _____________ _____________.”

6. Wherever we’ve recently ________________, Jesus has _____________ ___ ____________.

7. As Christ reveals how He has “________________” ______, our eyes are somehow

________________ to “see” ________________.

By design, no answers are provided for these blanks.

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SESSION 1

Fresh Winds over Galilee

Sometimes we also may have the desire to take our whips and turn over the tables in our worlds: in our

children’s schools, in our communities, in our churches, etc. We’ve got to be so careful what we rationalize

by Scripture. Before we proceed, we are wise to remember a few important things. We’ll make six points

today based on the calling of John.

Read Mark 3:13-19 and John 2:12-17.

1. Christ could not sin in His zeal or anger. See Ephesians 4:26-27.

Anger and rage are highly motivational, but they are extremely destructive.

2. Godly indignation is measured by the absence of “ self.”

3. God looks upon the heart beneath the action. We can even have a wrong heart about a right issue and

find ourselves disciplined by God.

4. Paradoxically, we receive our calling as one kind of person but can only fulfill it as another.

See Matthew 18:2-3. “ ‘Unless you change and become [your answer], you will never

[your answer] [your answer].”

5. Though preparation is important, Christ seems to have an affinity for

on-the-job training.

6. The kind of change God desires comes one primary way. See Mark 3:14: “that they might

be with him and that he might send them out.”

Response SHeets

SESSION 2

Sights and InsightsReflect on John 18:15-18,25-27.

1. Few experiences lend more opportunity to be ___disappointed___ by someone we’ve

highly esteemed than a traumatic event.

2. Each of us is wise to ask the following question: Who have I given enough power

to throw me off course by his or her denial-like actions toward Christ?

3. Sudden uncharacteristic actions do not by themselves render the person or ministry fraudulent.

See 2 Corinthians 11:2-3.

4. Wise is the man or woman who realizes he or she, too, could momentarily deny Christ. May we

never withhold from another something that—in due time—we may desperately need.

Read John 18:28-31,38-40; 19:12-16.

1. Chaotic events don’t place us suddenly out of control nearly as much as they remind us how

little control we had all along. See 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

2. When we feel tremendously out of control in one area, without God’s help

we will ordinarily transfer a tighter control-grip on another area.

3. We will never develop authentic confidence in God’s sovereign control

until we let Him see us through seasons when life seems out of control.

4. Keep in mind that Satan’s first goal in a believer’s life in trauma is to encourage

cessation of communication with God.

5. God may not always answer our questions, but He will always answer us.

Psalm 65:5: “You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior.”

Jeremiah 33:3: “ ‘ “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and

unsearchable things you do not know.” ’ ”

Psalm 69:13: “O God, answer me with your sure salvation.”

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SESSION 3

Defining MomentsRead Acts 4:23-32.The Greek word deesis refers to a particular need for which one prays.

How did God respond to their prayers?• The place where they were meeting was shaken. The Greek word means “to move

to and fro, shake … to put into a state of waving, rocking, vibratory motion.”

• They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

• They all spoke the Word of God boldly.

1. They neither denied nor minimized the seriousness of the problem (v. 23).

2. The believers united for prayer in a way God highly honors. (The Greek word is homothumadon.)

• Homos means one and the same.

• Thumos means temperament, mind. Also, “With one mind, with unanimous

consent, in one accord, all together.” Thumos can also mean passion

as well as mind or thought.

If God honors His people coming together with ONE MIND and passion, whose mind is right?

Philippians 2:5 (KJV) says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also

in Christ Jesus.” What kind of mind did He have?

• He made Himself of no reputation.

• He took on the form of a servant.

• He humbled Himself. Proverbs 13:10 says, “Pride only breeds quarrels.”

3. They corporately exalted God. In doing so, they glorified Him and reminded

themselves to whom they belonged (Acts 4:24).

4. They cited Scripture relevant to their challenge (vv. 25-26).

5. They reminded themselves that anything God allows to threaten His own, He will use to bring aboutgreat glory.

6. Then they asked big things.

Response SHeets

SESSION 4

Beyond the LimitsPart 1: Grasping the Concept of Divinely Inspired ScriptureAccording to 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God breathed.” The original Greek word is theopneustos. Theo—God. Pneustos—breath or spirit. Consider each of the following Scriptures.

1. Based on a comparison between 2 Peter 1:20-21 and 1 Chronicles 28:19, we might say the men God

used to write Scripture served as neither the author nor the ink. They served as the quill. The author is

God the Holy Spirit and the ink flowing through that pen is the Holy Spirit, the breath of God that He’s

pouring through.

2. The Word is eternal, but God chose to give inspiration through progressive revelation (see Ps. 119:89).

3. Compare Genesis 2:7. When God breathes, He breathes life. Hebrews 4:12 tells us His Word is alive.

4. See Luke 1:1-3. We are told that many undertook writing accounts of Christ’s life and fulfillment

of God’s plan; yet we don’t have “many” of those accounts in the Bible.

Part 2: Grasping God’s Primary Intention Through His Inspiration of John’s GospelRead John 1:1.1. One of the overriding themes in the Gospel of John is presented from the very first verse: Under the

inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John wanted his reader to know and recognize the Word.

2. The Greek term for Word is Logos. Basically it refers to the expression of God

revealed to man. God revealed Himself through His Son and His words.

3. The only way we will ever really know the Word, both the Person and the print, is to know His

words. Both of these verses employ the Greek word rhema.

4. As we learn to receive and apply rhema, we are wise to remember that God’s Word is written:

by God about God, to others about others, to us about us.

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FUNDAMENTAL _______VALID __________

PROVERBS 23:7 (KJV)

Ways God

________ Speak

________________ ___________________

_____________ _____________ _____________

__________ __________ _______________________________

Heart MindHyper

______________

(Romans 10:2)

All ________ /No _______

Conceptual

______________

Concrete

______________

Hyper

______________

(Matthew 23:4,15)

All ________ /No _______

SCRIPTURE

Truths

Experiences

Experientialism

Heart Head

PrinciplesExperiences Circumstances

Prayer Nature DreamsOthers Visions Discernment (Holy Spirit)

May Legalism

Head Heart

Facts

SESSION 5

Receiving His FullnessSee John 3:5. One of the most often repeated phrases from the mouth of Christ is “I tell you the truth.” In the NIV the phrase appears 77 times in the Gospels.

Jesus used the phrase …

1. For the sake of emphasis.

2. For clarity on issues of profound importance like life and death.

3. For clarity on issues of controversy.

Christ tells us the truth. Truth breeds trust.

Take a good look at Psalm 31:1-5,13-16,21. Camp on the words in verse 14: “I trust in you, O Lord.” What makes a person able to trust God when the circumstances around him are screaming to disbelieve? He has come to trust in the God of truth (v. 5).

1. Christ will tell us the truth even when we think we’d prefer a lie. Why?

• Because He is Truth (John 14:6).

• Because only the truth sets us free (John 8:32).

2. Thankfully, Christ’s truth always comes coupled with His grace.

3. Christ holds His church and His children responsible for telling not only

His truth but His whole truth.

Two extremes in unbalanced teaching or portraying:

See John 16:33. Christ Jesus came to us as the exact representation of the Father. He taught neither of the above extremes. See Matthew 18:4-7.

God has nothing to do with anything we

could ever interpret as

negative or painful

(2 Tim. 4:3-5).

God is always angry, never

pleased, and usually out

to get us (Luke 4:18).

Response SHeets

SESSION 6

Life More AbundantlyOur previous lesson concluded the written focus on the concepts of “more” and “abundance” in the Gospel of John. Today we will pick up and expand on an important principle for the believers life that

was established in week 6, day 5: identification by association. No other chapter in all four Gospels has“more” to say about this wonderful principle than the incomparable John 17.

In contrast, man’s natural life principle is: identification by exaltation.

“Identification by association” is beautifully illustrated in John 17.

1. Between Father and Son. Read John 17:1-5.A. Traces of Intimacy

• In timing (the time has come …)

• In the essence of eternal life

• In reference to relationship before the world began

B. Terms of Intercession

• “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”

• Identification by association for glorification.

2. Between Father, Son, and those God gave Him. Read John 17:6,20.A. Traces of Intimacy

• The revelation of the Father received through …

1) Obedience to His Word (logos)

2) Acceptance of His words (rhema)

• Christ’s insistence that glory had come to Him through them

• Christ’s passion for the love God has for Him

B. Terms of Intercession

• “protect them by the power of your name.”

• “protect them from the evil one”

• “that all of them may be one … brought to complete unity”

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SESSION 7

Letters from the HeartOur journey with the Apostle John will take us now over the waters of the Aegean Sea to a small islandcalled Patmos. In week 8, day 1 we will look more closely at John’s arrival and the introduction to the Book of Revelation. Today, however, we’re going to consider to the best of our understanding the vision of Christ that John recorded in Revelation 1:9-18.

While we understand that John received a one-time-only vision of Christ, I believe we can draw some important parallels about becoming the kind of people to whom Christ can reveal Himself.

1. Though a prisoner in exile, John remained spiritually keen and fervent.

Revelation 1:10, “On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit.”

2. John was faithful with what he “heard,” and God invited him to “see” (Rev 1:10,12).

The original word for hear often used in Scripture is akouo, meaning “not only to hear but to

respond and obey.”

3. John came to the startling realization that the immortal Christ exceeded

anything he could have stretched his mind to imagine (v. 17).

4. John encountered the tender familiarity wrapped in the complete

unfamiliarity of unveiled “God-ness” (v. 17).

5. Conspicuously absent in the record of John’s staggering encounter with the

immortal Christ is a single word from the disciple’s mouth (Eccl. 5:1-2).

Response SHeets

SESSION 8

Among the LampstandsIn the midst of many symbols and shrouds, the Book of Revelation frames several visions of such startling clarity and detail that we could stand before them for hours and continue to discover somethingnew. Revelation 7:9-17 encases one of those.

As we study these Scriptures, let your imagination play like a videotape. We’ll push the pause button on several different elements in the scene and see what we can glean.

1. A great multitude that can’t be counted standing before the throne

and in front of the Lamb.

This multitude is …

• Every nation: ethnos—set apart by location, customs, and laws

• Every tribe: phule—set apart by blood lines tracing to common ancestors

• Every people: laos—set apart by various common bonds of a society

• Every language: glossa—set apart by dialects or languages

These four descriptions represent every means of division between the inhabitants of earth.

2. Those who have come out of (the) great tribulation (v. 14). Carefully note that scholars are divided about the exact meaning of this phrase. Some believe the massesof people pictured have come out of “great tribulation” (as may be implied in the KJV and could simplyimply Acts 14:22), while others believe they have come out of “the great tribulation” (as may be implied inthe NIV and NASB). If Scripture means the great tribulation, this gathering suggests that the most profoundevangelical movement in church history will occur during the most dreadful days of human history.

Compare Revelation 6:9-11. Many scholars believe these martyrs are among those gathered in Revelation 7:9.

3. The consummation of perfect unity in glorious diversity. Please don’t miss the fact that these “nations,

tribes, and peoples” are gathered as one, but—at least in this vision

and for this time—retain some level of distinction.

4. The worship of the angels (vv. 11-12). “Amen!”

5. The tent of God (vv. 15-17)

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SESSION 9

From a Throne’s Eye ViewRead Revelation 12:7-12. Revelation 12:9 calls the enemy of our souls by five names:

• The great dragon

• That ancient serpent

• The devil

• Satan

• Accuser

Primary defenses against the accuser:

1. “By the blood of the Lamb.” Once we are covered by the blood of the Lamb,

Satan can do nothing to “uncover” us. So what’s a devil to do? Try to make us “feel” uncovered.

2. “By the word of their testimony”

Response SHeets

Today’sDate

PhysicalBirth Spiritual

Birth

90 Years

(Temporal) (Eternal)

aLph

a

Om

ega

The Accuser’s Formula

Your Is- Your Was

+ Your Is-to-Come ____________________Incomplete

God’s formula

Redeemed was+ Cleansed is____________________

Powerful Is-to-Come

He Was He Is He Is to ComeHe Still Is

SESSION 10

Blessed Benediction1. The one-word call to worship probably has great significance (v. 7). The word hallelujah (NIV) or alleluia

(KJV) comes from the original Hebrew halelu, meaning to praise, and Yah, the shortened form

of Yahweh or Jehovah. With one exception (Ps. 135:3), allellouia is always found at the beginning or end

of psalms, suggesting that it was a standardized call to praise in the temple worship. This may suggest

that, although every nation, tribe, and tongue will be part of this glorious wedding, the ceremony itself

may be decidedly Jewish.

In ancient Hebrew tradition …2. The actual wedding arrangements were the responsibility of the groom and his father.

(See Judg. 14:10-11.)

3. The chief responsibility of the bride was to prepare herself (v. 7):

• The bride prioritized purity.

• The bride took special baths of clean water and fragrant oils.

• The bride chose fine jewelry to wear on her wedding day.

4. During the ceremony, held under the wedding canopy or huppah, the bride traditionally

circled the groom (Jer. 31:22).

5. Seven blessings were pronounced during the ceremony (Rev. 21:1-3,22-23).

6. Although deep repentance and personal cleansing took place in preparation, the actual wedding day

was marked by great gladness of heart (Song of Songs 3:11).

• Custom prohibited anyone from mourning or fasting on the day of the wedding (Rev. 19:7).

• The original word for “be glad” is agalliao, which means “to exult, rejoice with exuberance; often to

leap for joy, show one’s joy by leaping, skipping,

or dancing, denoting excessive or ecstatic joy and delight.”

Personalize Isaiah 62:5: “As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will [my] God rejoice over [me].”

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